Following the announcement that electricity bills are going up this summer by an average of $25 a month, the BPU held a utility assistance day today to connect residents to programs that can help them pay their energy bills.

It comes as both Democrats and Republicans in the legislature are questioning the cost increase and calling on the BPU to take action to.

Goldberg has more on the event and what resources are being provided to help support those struggling with their rising utility bills.

And the rising cost of electricity and natural gas has infuriated people statewide.

Social Security goes up and down from, you know, like a fraction and the electric bill goes up like this.

The gas goes up on the street, the gas bill itself goes up for heating the house.

And we've had one of the coldest winters we've had in years.

And 2025, the demand charges went from about $182 to $312.

Are you getting your house twice as much?

No, I'm not.

We need help.

A bipartisan chorus of critics has called for New Jersey's Board of Public Utilities to do something about rising energy costs.

We're here to do something today.

We're here at this energy assistance event.

We have been doing them throughout the last year.

We're going to continue to do that more frequently to make sure that we're providing the opportunity for people to get energy assistance if they need it.

The latest energy assistance event drew hundreds of people to Toms River to connect them with savings programs and ways to cut down on their utility bills.

While the BPU is catching heat for accepting the results of the latest energy auction, President Christine Goose Adobe says the real culprit for rising costs is PJM New Jersey's grid operator.

PJM says supply isn't keeping up with demand.

But Ghost Adobe says it's PJM fault for taking too long to approve new sources of power.

There are, I believe, 84 New Jersey projects in the queue, and so that's a significant amount of energy that could be brought online, primarily solar and storage, which gets online much more quickly than, you know, a large fossil fuel plant, for example.

The auction that took place was believed to be a fair market auction.

But that doesn't mean in the end that we're in a position to pay those prices and that those people should get those prices.

And maybe the discussion has to be held that there may be another way to negotiate this.

Senator John Burns at Chelsea says the loss of offshore wind is a big factor in electric bills rising by as much as 20% this summer.

The first project of offshore wind, which would have been conservatively thinking between three and a half, four years away, was able to generate electricity equal to a new nuclear plant.

So when things like that go missing, the marketplace signs up.

So where should New Jersey get more electricity?

We need a diverse portfolio.

We need wind.

We need solar.

We need fossil, and we need nuclear.

And we need a nice balance of the four.

I think we have come so far in technology that people are no longer going to be frightened and run away from nuclear.

I believe it's appropriate for areas within New Jersey to ensure that we have an abundance of clean, reliable energy.

But the time horizon to build a new plant and the cost is very significant and we need to get more resources online now so that we can help bring these costs down.

Senator Robert Singer says the BPU needs to take more direct action to help New Jerseyans save money.

Think of all the surcharge and everything else like that.

Let them pay their electric bill or their gas bill for what really is.

And then when the economy gets better and people can afford it, you can put some of the things on.

Republicans have also blamed Governor Phil Murphy for the high utility bills, arguing his mandate for 100% clean energy by 2035 is an expensive endeavor.

They always say we don't want to have a clean environment.

We also have to say this affordability factor to it.

People have to be able to afford their bills in their house.

In the meantime, people will have to pay higher bills through gritted teeth.

We have seniors that don't know what to do.

They don't know how to pay the bill.

This is the single biggest concern presently amongst all our constituency.

And the senior community.

These are ridiculous charges for people who live on fixed incomes.

And hope to connect with assistance programs to help them pay those bills in Toms River.

I'm Ted Goldberg.

NJ Spotlight News.